Altice’s controlling shareholder, the French billionaire Patrick Drahi, was in New York Wednesday and met with Time Warner Cable TWC -0.62% Chief Executive Rob Marcus to discuss a potential deal, people familiar with the meeting said.
Altice is in talks with Time Warner Cable about a potential cash-and-stock takeover offer, the people said. Meanwhile, Charter Communications CHTR +0.96% is in talks with Time Warner Cable about a bid that is likely to be well north of the $170 a share previously speculated by some analysts, other people familiar with the matter said.
It appears as though a bidding war for TWC may be shaping up. Still, one or both of the suitors could decide the price is too high to justify, or Time Warner Cable, which has a market value of $47 billion, could ultimately decide that operating on its own is in the best interests of its shareholders.